


The Zorkian Web

by duelmepharaoh (captain_indigo)



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Star Trek Setting, Angst and Humor, Gen, Minor Character Death, Thief King Bakura (Akefia Bakura), Yami Marik (Kek) - Freeform, brief description of blood/injuries, can you guess which TOS episode i ripped off, the only ships are spaceships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-17
Updated: 2018-10-20
Packaged: 2019-06-23 15:45:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15609627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captain_indigo/pseuds/duelmepharaoh
Summary: Ryou and Bakura are brothers who left their desert homeworld behind to join Starfleet, and were assigned to the USS Millennium. Bakura doesn’t get along with Captain Atem at all, so when the captain’s brother Yugi joins the crew on an unexpected and secretive mission, Bakura is ready to despise him too. One creepy rescue mission on a rapidly decaying ship later...





	1. Prologue

Bakura sighed, leaning into the touch of the warm sun on the back of his neck. The smell of almost-done pita wafted through the air, and he could hear the soft tune his mother was whistling from the kitchen. It was a dream, Bakura knew, because Ryou was laughing. Not his usual soft chuckle, but a half-choked belly laugh, tears trickling down his cheeks. Bakura couldn't remember what he'd said. He could only remember that laugh, clear as a shard of glass, because it had been the last. The image fractured in a blast of fire and darkness, and Ryou was choking again on the dust of the house that was crumbling around their ears. For a moment the dream shivered around him, as if unsure of itself, and then it rushed forward again in an unstoppable wave of sound. Wood creaked, dishes fell and shattered from the table, and Bakura threw up his hands just a moment too late. At first all he could do was scream, hands hovering over what felt like the total ruin of his face, the ashy odor of burnt bread and sulfur invading his nostrils. Ryou gripped his tiny shoulders shaking him.

 

“Bakura, wake up!” Bakura looked up from his bloodstained hands, up over Ryou's shoulder into the dark starry space peering through the broken roof of their house, and saw them. The first was the eyes, red, unblinking, full of sadistic delight. The second was the USS Aaru, circling above their planet. The gleaming golden hull flashed in Bakura's memory as the ship flew over them, watching them burn and doing _nothing."_

 

_Bakura!”_ He gasped for air, sitting up in bed so fast he almost headbutted Ryou in the face. The clouds of dust and fire were replaced by the cool air of his quarters and Ryou's worried eyes. Bakura swore, rubbing the burning scar that bisected his eye. “I thought you didn't have those dreams anymore?”

 

“Didn't. They've been back with a vengeance for… I don't know, the past month?” Ryou sighed, fiddling with the edge of Bakura's covers. Bakura was grateful for the silence. Anything Ryou could've said would have pissed him off anyway. “Why were you in here in the first place?” Finally Ryou's face lifted a bit.

 

“We're here! Both of us are officially on shore leave.”

 

“Already?” Bakura yelped, scrambling out of bed and starting to shove seemingly random objects into a bag. “Then why are we wasting time here when we could be on Orion IV? Come on!”

 

“I'm not going till you put on actual clothes.”

 

“Picky picky,” Bakura grumbled, flinging his pajama pants across the room and rummaging in his drawers. Thank the gods for shore leave, because Bakura had some serious tension to vent.


	2. A Disturbing Lack of Shore Leave

Bakura licked his lips, staring down the man across from him like he was just deciding whether to go for the throat or the ribs. Sweat trickled down the back of his neck.

"Well 'Kura, are you gonna throw before we all die of old age?"

"Fuck you, Otogi." Bakura rattled the dice cup, wondering if he should bother praying for luck. It never seemed to work for him, but there was always a chance. Glaring at the uncomfortably large pile of credits in a heap between them, he prepared to roll.

The chime of his comm badge made them both jump. Bakura slammed down the dice cup, jabbing at the chip of metal. " _What?!_ "

"All hands back to the ship, captain's orders."

"You're kidding me Rishid, we just got here!"

"I do not kid. We have received our orders from the admiral, and will be leaving as soon as everyone is on board." Without another word, a second chirp signaled that Rishid had closed the channel.

"Fucking bureaucrats," Bakura hissed, jumping out of his chair. "Sorry, I'll have to finish relieving you of your black market wealth next time."

"A name like Maximillion and you expect him to be a reasonable man?" Otogi snickered, shoving most of Bakura's credits back across the table. "I'll just keep some of this safe for you till you get back."

"Whatever. Nothing to spend it on in deep space anyway." Giving Otogi the middle finger in farewell, Bakura stomped off towards space dock, fuming all the way. No, it was no good praying for luck, he decided as he slouched aboard the last shuttle, dropping into a seat next to Ryou. Out of all the posts in the galaxy he'd gotten stationed under Maximillion Fucking Pegasus, the most annoying pompous asshole Bakura had ever had the displeasure of knowing. Then he'd gotten posted on one of the most trash-heap ships in the fleet. It was designed after one of the first of the Enterprise generation, some horrible experiment in nostalgia gone wrong. That alone would make any man lose belief in luck, but that wasn't the worst part of it all. Bakura could've stood it all, under any other captain in the whole of Starfleet. For a while things had been good. Ryou had managed to get stationed on the same ship, Bakura had repaired and upgraded till the Millennium was half-decent, and then seemingly out of nowhere they’d been assigned a new commander. If Bakura’s life was a miserable trash sundae, then Captain Atem Sennen was the cherry right smack on the top.

“How's Ryuji?” Ryou nudged him gently in the ribs.

“Slimy as ever. I swear he loads those dice, I can just never catch him at it.”

“Bakura, _you_ load the dice every chance you get.”

“It’s different when I do it.” Bakura lifted his chin haughtily. “I’m just making sure to account for my supernaturally bad luck. He’s _cheating_.” Ryou started giggling madly as their seats rocked gently from the takeoff.

“Something funny, creampuff?” Jounouchi slouched sideways in his seat, grinning.

“Just Bakura’s morals. Did you two do anything interesting?”

“Not like Admiral Pegasus gave us time for much. We were barely on base for twelve hours. Although Honda still almost managed to get us locked up for starting a bar fight.”

Honda just gave a long-suffering sigh. “You mean losing a bar fight. And I wasn’t the one who insulted their mother. Good thing we found a doc in time, you’re ugly enough without a badly set nose.”

“How you two haven’t gotten kicked out of the Fleet I will never understand,” Bakura groused, leaning against the cool metal of the hull so he could stare out the window. As much as he complained about the glorified antique that was the USS Millennium, he never tired of this view. The awful golden accents he could’ve done without, but the Millennium's graceful serpentine lines and wing-like nacelles against the void of space always lifted his spirits. They felt familiar, like a half-forgotten dream.

“Do you happen to know why we’re leaving so soon? I know the med supplies at least needed quite a bit of restocking. I can’t imagine they got everything done that quickly.”

“Well…” Jou’s voice dropped to a stage whisper, and Bakura’s ears perked up. “I heard they’re sending us out exploring again.”

“ _That_ was urgent enough to cut off our shore leave? Of all the stupid-”

“And,” Jou continued, cutting Bakura off. “We’re taking on a passenger.”

“What dumbass civilian asked to go out on exploration duty?” Bakura snapped. “It’s always either insanely boring or insanely dangerous.”

“You’ll like this part Bakura,” Jou replied with his most evil grin. “The passenger is Yugi Mutou.”

“Is that supposed to mean something to me?”

Ryou’s mouth dropped open. “The captain’s older brother? Are you sure?”

“Really. I heard it from some guy in the bar. Oh c’mon Bakura, don’t make that face. I’m sure you guys’ll get along great.” Jou wasn’t even trying to contain his glee.

“Yeah. Sure.” Bakura ground his teeth. “Two of them. Just what I needed.” It was official, Bakura decided, staring bleakly out into space. He absolutely had the worst luck in the history of the galaxy.

He didn’t listen to any of the other chatter as they reached the ship, only jolted out of his depressed silence by the clank of the magnetic locks as they landed. He paused at the door as Jou and Honda pushed past him, seriously considering trying to hide under the seats till the shuttle-craft returned to the base.

“Come on, it won’t be that bad.” Ryou tugged at his elbow. “Just give him a chance. Brothers aren’t always alike, just look at us. Maybe he’ll be perfectly nice.”

“And maybe if I blow myself out an airlock I’ll grow magical space gills and be able to float away from all my problems,” Bakura grumbled, but he allowed himself to be led out of the shuttle and towards the bay doors. Other crew members emerged from their shuttles, milling around as they all made their way into the ship. Bakura scanned the crowd, wondering if any of his team were back yet. Then he saw him. It would’ve been hard to miss him really, with that ridiculous curly hair, only marginally more tamed than the captain’s. There was no disputing the family resemblance. Anzu looked up from their conversation and locked eyes with Ryou, waving them over. Bakura looked desperately for an escape, but Ryou’s grip turned to iron on his arm, hauling Bakura along in his wake.

“And this,” Anzu gestured, “is Ryou Bakura, my first medical officer, and Akefia Bakura, chief engineer.”

“Very pleased to meet you both.”

The hair, Bakura noticed with annoyance, was where the resemblance ended. Where Atem’s smile was consistently half-mocking, Yugi’s actually looked pleasant, if a little overly polite. Instead of Atem’s penchant for flashy, non-regulation jewelry, Yugi’s clothing was more practical. At first the only obvious decoration was a silver-buckled collar and studded wristbands peaking out from the sleeves of his leather jacket. The longer Bakura looked though, the more he saw. More metal peeked out from Yugi’s boots, hidden by a strange arrangement of leather straps. Several clearly extraneous belts hugged his hips, partially hidden beneath the jacket, and was that- no, that was definitely the hint of a concealed pocket of some kind inside his left sleeve.  _A spoiled diplomat with a concealed weapon?_

“You- you too!” Bakura yelped as Ryou trod heavily on his toes. Yugi made a very gracious effort to hide his laugh. “No one calls me Akefia though, Bakura is fine.”

“Noted.” Yugi’s polite smile was back again. “I’m sure I’ll see both of you around, but I’m eager to see my brother. It’s been many years.”

“Right!” Anzu chirped. “Come on, I’ll show you to the bridge.” They were only a few feet away when she turned back. “Ryou, sickbay is absolutely full of boxes right now, they had to rush the deliveries, obviously. Just get started and I’ll be back as soon as I can to get things in order.”

“Yes ma’am!” Ryou called. “Hey, I bet engineering is full too, you better get down there."

“If they even delivered any of the replacements I requested. I swear to the gods, Sennen doesn’t approve half of what I need to keep her space-worthy. Damn good thing I’m such a genius.”

“You are, you know.” Ryou ruffled Bakura’s hair, avoiding the angry retaliatory swipe. “I bet I could cut a single wire anywhere on this ship and you could find it blindfolded.”

“Hah. You don’t need to coddle me. I’m fine. As long as our new passenger stays out of engineering, I can’t see a problem. Not like he can order me around anyway.” Ryou looked suitably relieved at Bakura’s speech, departing for sickbay with a cheery wave. Chewing thoughtfully on one of his nails, Bakura strolled towards the turbo-lift that would take him to engineering. As much as he hated to admit it, the whole situation had piqued his curiosity. What was so urgent about mapping some quadrant out in the boonies? Why on earth had the Captain decided this was the time for a family reunion? And for that matter, why were they bringing a highly ranked diplomat out into unknown territory at all? Alone in the turbo-lift, Bakura stretched his shoulders, trying to release some of their tension. Knowing the ship inside and out definitely had its perks. He had questions, and fortunately, he knew just where to get some answers.

Answers that would apparently have to wait. Bakura walked through the door to main engineering and had to swallow a few choice curses that would’ve made a dock hand blush. He could barely see the floor for all the boxes piled throughout the room. Honda peered out from behind a stack.

“Not my fault.”

“For once,” Bakura grumbled, wading into the fray. “What’s the damage?”

“I think we-” Honda reached over another pile with a grunt, grabbing a battered silver tablet. “You know I actually think we got most of what we ordered this time. Maybe even everything.”

Bakura stopped dead with his hands buried in a crate. “You’re joking.”

“No, one of the guys said the captain’s brother paid actual money for extra hands to make up for the rush.”

“Yugi? Well, fuck me.” Bakura ran his hands through his hair, staring around the room.

“Gross dude.” Honda answered absently, flicking through the manifest with a finger.

“You’re lucky I can’t find a nice old-fashioned heavy wrench under this mess or I’d be sending you to Anzu with a concussion.” Honda flipped him off, not looking up from his screen.

“I think the new batteries you wanted are over… there?”

Some of the tension finally eased out of Bakura’s limbs. There was nothing like new toys to lighten up a crappy situation, so he rolled up his sleeves and got to work. 

* * *

Yugi kept up the lighthearted chatter, asking questions about the ship and the crew all the way up to the bridge.

“I’ve heard quite a bit about you and Ryou. Your improvements in mobile surgery have been incredibly useful in some of my more exciting diplomacy missions.”

“You’re very kind.” Anzu said, blushing with pride. “We tend to get thrown into sticky situations quite often on away missions, so… No offense to your brother of course, he always gets us out one way or another.”

Yugi grinned, and Anzu had a feeling that this one was more than a nicety. “No need to sugarcoat it. I’ve known my brother his whole life, he doesn’t always look before he leaps. If it weren’t for his amazing luck I’d be grey with worry.” The doors to the bridge whooshed open, and a change swept over Yugi faster than Anzu could blink. His shoulders straightened and his mouth set, as though readying himself for a fight. She could suddenly understand how someone with such a warm and diminutive presence could command a room of argumentative diplomats. Yugi strode from the turbo-lift, stopping with one hand on the railing. Atem looked up from where he was bent over Ishizu’s navigation panel and his face brightened.

“Yugi! What a nice surprise. I don’t suppose you know what kind of gods-blessed thing Maximillion is sending us out on-”

“Atem. I’m happy to see you too, but I need to speak with you and the Ishtar siblings right away. Privately. And we need to get going as quickly as possible.”

Atem blinked at the bizarre greeting, nodding. “Of course. We can use the ready room. Ishizu, Odion, with me.” He glanced around the bridge, his eyes falling on Mai at the weapons console. “Take us out of dock, would you? It seems we’re in a rush.”

Mai took the helm, chatting back and forth with one of the traffic controllers.

“I didn’t know you were certified for navigation.” Anzu came to stand behind Mai, resting her arms on the back of the chair.

“That’s cause I’m not,” Mai laughed, patting Anzu’s arm. “Relax, it’s 90% autopilot anyway these days. They just need someone to patch them into the system." Anzu groaned, rubbing her temples.

“Not to be rude but sometimes I wonder if our captain has even read any of the Starfleet protocols.”

“And you have?” Mai glanced up at Anzu’s disgruntled face and burst out laughing again. “What am I talking about, of course you have.”

“I’d rather at least know when I'm breaking them,” Anzu sighed. “Which on this ship is way too often.” Still chuckling, Mai tapped at the thruster controls. They sat in companionable silence while Mai worked, till Anzu jumped up with a gasp. “Oh shoot, I told Ryou I’d be right down to help with the supplies. Did you know they just dumped them all over the floor of sickbay? Good thing I didn’t have actual patients in there at the time.” The ready room door hissed, and Mai’s face darkened as she looked up.

“Yeah, you better go. I don’t think the captain’s brother brought any good news.”

“Yugi,” Anzu corrected absently, moving quickly to the turbo-lift. Ishizu was noticeably paler, Rishid looked even more inscrutable than usual, and even Atem looked serious for once. It felt like the temperature on the bridge had just dropped ten degrees, and Anzu was more than happy to escape. 

* * *

“Bridge to engineering.”

Luckily, Honda happened to be closest to the panel.

“Engineering here. We should be ready to-”

“We are already out of dock, I require maximum warp as soon as possible.”

“How am I supposed to do any maintenance at maximum warp?” Bakura shouted across the room. “Why the fuck do we need max warp for a fucking exploratory mission?”

Honda glared at Bakura until he settled down, muttering angrily at the pallet he was unstrapping.

“Alright Ishizu, since it's you asking I'm gonna assume it's actually urgent. Ready in ten. Right Bakura?”

“Sure, whatever.”

“You have my thanks. Navigation out.”

“Huh.” Honda started the proper sequences, leaving the unpacking to Bakura. “Did she sound worried to you?”

Bakura snorted. “I don't think it's possible to actually rattle an Ishtar.” Honda shrugged.

“She sounded worried to me. I just have a bad feeling about this.”

“And of course you had to say it out loud, dooming us all.” Bakura pulled out a roll of delicate glittering cable, turning it over in his hands as he went into one of the side rooms to put it away. All jokes aside, Ishizu’s nerves of steel made her one of the best pilots in the fleet. The thin thread of emotion in her voice made Bakura very _very_ nervous.

Bakura stowed supplies for a few hours after he and Honda had the Millennium up to warp. Annoyingly, it really did look like they'd gotten all the supplies he'd asked for. Finally mostly done, Bakura was off, pleading a headache. Honda gave no objection, a little pleased to be left in charge for once. With a few practiced adjustments on his personal tablet Bakura sent his standard issue tracking beacon on its merry and unsuspicious way to his quarters. Bakura himself, on the other hand, turned away from the main part of the ship, and into the jefferies tubes. The vast majority of repairs were automated, but the tubes were kept accessible. Starfleet had finally learned its lesson after some truly horrible repair robot-induced tragedies. Sometimes you just needed a pair of human hands to get something right. Ducking under a conduit, Bakura unscrewed a safety grating that was practically invisible in the dim light. Settling back against a large pipe with a comfortable sigh, he unscrewed a small cap in the side, attaching the wire to his tablet. He blinked owlishly, adjusting to the flickering light of text scrolling across his screen.

“Alright Yugi Mutou, let's see what you're really up to.” Docking bay cameras were simple, but largely useless. Yugi had simply wandered around meeting people as they came aboard. Bakura glared down at the screen. “I wonder which is gonna be worse, Mr. High and Mighty on the bridge or his overly polite twin,” he muttered, flicking through the archives. It didn't seem like Yugi had been to his quarters at all. In fact, in a very unobtrusive and meandering way, he had been through an impressive chunk of the ship. “How weirdly thorough.” As if hearing him, Yugi turned his head and looked directly into the camera. Bakura almost dropped the tablet, his heart hammering against his ribs. Then Yugi blinked and his eyes slid smoothly down as if it had been pure chance. Furiously reminding himself that it was all archived footage anyway, Bakura tried to reign in his nerves. Suddenly struck by an idea, he went back through the footage from a few different angles.

_What the hell?_

“That little weirdo is scoping out the security cameras.” He went through a few other areas just to be sure, and he was right. Yugi had found almost all of the cameras, easy as breathing. Bakura wasn't even sure he would've noticed it happening if he'd been standing next to the guy. “Seriously, what the hell.” Deciding to go right for the main event, Bakura went for the more secure archives. Main security? No, just Jou leaning on his desk and joking around with one of his gang of underlings. Atem's quarters? Bakura was always a little cautious of that one. It had taken at least a month for him to scrub the image of the captain in his underwear from his brain. But no, those had been empty since they left spacedock. Ready room then? “Gotcha,” Bakura whispered. The bridge cameras showed them all going and coming out… Bakura watched the counter in the corner of his screen. Five minutes later. Five minutes? What could they have said in five minutes that would rattle everyone like that? Saving the ready room footage, Bakura tucked the cord back into place. Certain camera archives took more time to decrypt than others, and he didn't like to fake his location for too long. Carefully extricating himself from his burrow, Bakura made his way back to his quarters. The fact that he wasn't sure why he was so uneasy made him even more uneasy, like the hairs standing up on the back of his neck in the middle of a safe and well-lit room. Hooking his tablet up to a battered power pack, he shoved it into a compartment under his desk to start its work. He'd have the footage, and his answers, eventually. It was probably nothing. He was probably being paranoid. At least now there was nothing to do but wait. 

* * *

 

The next time he saw Yugi was in the mess hall, sleepily greeting a few people as he collected his food from the replicator. He sat by himself in a corner, and Bakura watched past Ryou’s shoulder as Yugi’s eyes began to flick casually across the room between bites.

“Bakura?”

“Mmm?” Bakura answered through a mouthful of garlic bread.

“Will you stop staring at him please? You look like you’ve been hypnotized.”

“There’s something off about all this and you know it.”

Ryou nodded, the very picture of patience. “Of course. And I’m sure the captain has his orders, which we won’t find out about until necessary. I know you don’t trust him, but that’s just how it works. You’re only going to get into trouble if you nose around so obviously. Let me see what I can find out from Anzu.”

Bakura tapped his fingers against the edge of his plate. “You’re telling me if I could find out, you wouldn’t want to know?”

“What did you do?” Ryou squinted. “It isn’t anything illegal is it? No, why am I even asking. Of course it is. You know if you get court-martialed again you’re probably out of the Fleet.”

Not bothering to answer, Bakura carefully picked up his breakfast and made his way over to Yugi’s table. He sat down deliberately, back to the camera that would give the clearest view of his face, just to be safe. Yugi opened his mouth, probably to give some kind of saccharin greeting, but Bakura had no use for it.

“I’ll save you the time. One over my shoulder in the corner, one above each door, and one in the central ceiling light fixture.” Bakura shoved another bite of bread into his mouth and waited. For a moment Yugi just looked at him, eyes even wider than usual, and Bakura’s heart dropped into his stomach.

“I missed that last one,” Yugi answered pleasantly, his attention returning to his food. Bakura’s fingers started dancing on the edge of the table again, until Yugi looked back up at him with raised eyebrows. Finally realizing that Yugi was actually giving him an opening, Bakura hurriedly finished chewing.

“Why are you doing that?”

“The cameras? Mostly out of habit.” Yugi’s mouth took on a wry twist. “Diplomatic missions don’t always end quietly. I’ve had to make some quick exits, so I like to be prepared.”

Bakura frowned. For some reason, the thought of a mild-mannered diplomat being used to danger had not occurred to him. “Fair enough.” He looked up at Yugi’s muffled noise of surprise. Somehow he’d snuck a bit off Bakura’s plate.

“What is this? It tastes like- well, I’m not sure what the Coridanian equivalent would be. Gosh, I haven’t had anything like this in ages.”

“I- how did you know I’m from Cori- whatever. Goats, traded from Sol III cause we have the climate for it. Reminds me of home.” Bakura took another bite, and they chewed in silence. “Why are you even here?” Bakura finally burst out. He glanced hastily over his shoulder, and managed to lower his voice again. “We were due for another two _months_ shore leave, I had maintenance to do, and now everyone’s being all back-alley and- not that I’m not used to it, with your idiot brother-” Bakura stumbled, realizing he was probably in dangerous territory, but his gods-blessed mouth just kept going without his permission. “How the fuck am I supposed to do my job properly when I never have any idea of what we’re going into?” He stabbed his fork viciously into a slice of meat. “ _Fuck._ Do you just set everyone’s mouth flapping with your psychic powers or something? No wonder you’re a damn diplomat.” He could practically feel Ryou staring at them anxiously from a few tables away.

Yugi had set down his fork and folded his hands, listening calmly to Bakura’s outburst.

“No psychic powers, I’m afraid. And you’re right.”

“Of course I’m ri- wait, did you just agree with me?” Bakura didn’t even bother to stop his mouth hanging open in shock. There was no trace of humor left in Yugi’s voice when he continued.

“Yes. The chief engineer needs to be kept more informed. I love my brother dearly, but sometimes he has a lot to learn about working with people he’s decided aren’t on his team. He doesn’t trust you, and unfortunately,” here Yugi gave Bakura a very pointed look. “You haven’t given him much reason to.”

“Those charges were bullshit,” Bakura grumbled, stuffing his mouth with food just so he wouldn’t have to respond any further. Yugi shrugged.

“He doesn’t think so. Anyway, I’ve been told he and I balance each other out. That’s part of why I’m here. The other reason is confidential.” Ignoring Bakura’s scowl, Yugi continued. “ _But_ , I have some sensor readings I’d like to go over with you. I’ve already run them by your science officer, and he agrees that I should consult you.”

“ _Seto Kaiba_ thinks you should consult with _me?_ ” For the second time in about five minutes, Bakura was completely thrown off balance.

“With great reluctance,” Yugi added, grinning impishly. “But yup. Do you have the time? We’ll be there in about 24 hours at this speed, so before then if you can.”

“You’re so polite, how can I say no,” Bakura answered, rolling his eyes. “Let me make sure Honda didn’t blow anything up since I left. Your place or mine?”

“My quarters. I assume you know where those are, since you’ve been watching me so closely since I got here.” Yugi’s brows lifted slightly, and Bakura colored a little, not bothering to answer something that was clearly rhetorical.

“Yeah, alright. Thirty minutes?”

Yugi nodded with another grin, rising from the table with his plate and leaving Bakura to stare down at his food in complete confusion. 

* * *

“Come.” The door slid open, revealing Yugi cross-legged on the floor, staring intently down at a collection of printouts spread out in an arc before him. Not looking up from his papers, Yugi scooted over, patting the space next to him. Bakura, relieved at the lack of formality, plopped down next to him and skimmed over the charts. They were covered in notes, some in Kaiba's distinctive scrawl, completely unconcerned with anyone else who might have to read it, and a neat flowing script that had to be Yugi's. “Here's as much as I can tell you. We are answering an urgent distress call. The ship is one of the larger science class, and completely disabled.”

“Attacked?”

Yugi said nothing, but the look on his face was enough. “We are not aware of any weapon that could produce these effects,” he said finally. It sounded almost rehearsed. “The long-range readings are being distorted. By comparing the readings to what I know of the ship and previous data, Kaiba thinks the actual fabric of space in the area is being warped. He said the readings also appear to be fluctuating.”

Bakura leaned over, pulling one of the graphs towards him. “Of course they fucking are,” he grunted. “And you want to know if this is going to affect the engines.”

“Is it?”

“Is water wet? It's gonna be hard to get any reliable propulsion if the space we're pushing against keeps changing.” Oblivious to the fact that he was half in Yugi's lap, Bakura reached to grab another sheet. “Is this really all you could get?” Yugi burst out laughing.

“You're just as grouchy as everyone says. You and Kaiba might be tied. Yes, that's as much as we could get. The effect increased so much that we can't get anything more that's anything close to accurate.” Bakura snorted.

“I'm flattered. You get me a copy? It's gonna affect transporters too. And probably other things you and the ice king haven't thought of yet.” Finally remembering the concept of personal space, Bakura sat back onto his haunches. “Why us?” Yugi sighed.

“That’s the part I can’t tell you. It shouldn’t affect your job at all, if it’s any consolation.” Bakura crossed his arms.

“What does it have to do with the Ishtars?”

Yugi froze, midway through sending the files. “I won’t ask how much you’ve already figured out,” he said, his voice slow and careful. “I would appreciate it if you respected their privacy. It might be a stretch to ask you to trust me to tell you what you need to know, considering whose brother I am, but I’ll ask it anyway.” He looked steadily at Bakura, gauging his response, and Bakura felt a strange chill settle into his stomach. Bakura shrugged, snatching his tablet from Yugi’s hands and getting to his feet.

“I’ll let you know if I come up with anything before we get there.” He left without a backward glance, trying very hard not to look like he was running away.

Bakura paced his room, staring down at the tablet he’d pulled out from under the desk. The footage from inside the ready room was decrypted. It was done, there for the watching, blinking temptingly at him from the screen. All he had to do was hit play. _Why am I hesitating?_ Why that sucker thought Bakura would trust any sibling of the captain was anyone’s guess. Bakura dropped to the bed, staring across the room.  _Damn diplomats and their mind tricks._ He swiped at the tablet he’d gotten from Yugi, and settled for glaring venomously at the charts instead.  _Whatever._ There would be time to watch the footage later, and Bakura had some readings to decipher.


	3. A Ghost and a Demon

They never seemed to get any closer to the purple spark that was the USS Guardian, glimmering out from the folds of space. Like anything dreaded or anticipated, it grew no closer for what seemed like an age, and then all at once they were there. The ship drifted, dead in the water, disturbing enough in itself. And then there was the light, rippling around the ship like a gaping wound, shimmering purple that faded in the center to a black darker than the deepest pit. The ship itself was fading, and through what should have been solid metal, the crew on the bridge caught the occasional glimpse of stars. Torn between relief and dread, Ishizu brought them to a slow halt, just as warning lights began to flick on where Seto and Bakura were bickering as quietly as possible over an angry red-littered control panel.

 

“It's not my fault! If you'd given me the right numbers-”

 

“I'm not going to dignify that with a response. You know full well that this distortion is unlike anything we've ever seen-”

 

“Yeah, nice excuse for-”

 

“Will you two _children_ keep it down?” Mai snapped. Ishizu slid her hands off the console and into her lap to keep them from shaking. She could feel Mai’s eyes on her, and then Mai placed a hand over her shaking ones. “Ishizu?”

 

“I'm glad we're here.” Ishizu inhaled deeply, visibly steadying herself. She gave Mai’s hand a quick squeeze. “Soon I'll… I'll know for sure. That's all I wish for.” Mai nodded, gently stroking her knuckles with a thumb till Ishizu regained her presence of mind enough to blush and shoo Mai away.

 

Atem's clear voice broke the tension. “Seto, Bakura, report.”

 

“Yes captain. The fluctuation appears to be regular, for the moment. I will continue my observations.”

 

“And since it's steady, I can actually adjust the engines to uh- am I gonna be transporting people through this? Cause I'm gonna need a little prep time for that.” At Atem's nod, Bakura swore under his breath. “I wouldn't actually recommend it. Just putting that out there. In case you care.”

 

Atem never got a chance to snap at him. Ishizu turned in her chair, piercing right through Bakura with her eyes. She didn't even need to stand to make Bakura swallow thickly.

 

“Akefia Bakura, my younger brother may be alive on that ship. You _will_ find a way to get to him.” For a moment, no one could speak.

 

“I- yeah. Ok.” Bakura fled the bridge, leaving the air behind him thick enough to cut with a knife. “Holy shit,” he muttered, leaning against the wall.

 

“Destination?” The computer gently prompted, for the second time.

 

“Main transporter.”

 

* * *

 

 Bakura stared as the boarding party filed into the transporter room. Ishizu, Rebecca with her tricorder, Ryou with his medkit, Keith and Bonz from security, and Yugi.

 

“I’m not even going to ask how you convinced Atem to stay behind,” Bakura said, attaching a small blinking disk to one of the plates on Yugi’s protective suit.

 

“Diplomat, remember?” Yugi watched him carefully. “It won’t come off?”

 

“C’mon. Don’t you trust me?” It didn’t come out nearly as jokingly as Bakura had meant it, and Yugi’s serious nod only made it worse. “I only had time to cobble together five of these high-powered tracking beacons.” Bakura turned to fasten one to Ryou’s suit. At least his fingers were steady. Then he stopped, holding the remaining three and glaring at the rest of the party. “If one of you wants to go without and risk not being able to come back because of all the interference, that’s on you.” Bakura waited.

 

“I am- not necessary.” Ishizu’s face was pinched. Yugi opened his mouth to offer to stay, but she cut him off. “You have been on this ship before. Without reliable scans they will need you to navigate. I will wait here.” She went to stand against the wall, clearly intending to literally wait right there till they returned. Yugi’s brow furrowed, but he nodded, taking his place in the transporter. Ryou went to stand next to him as Bakura fastened the remaining beacons to Rebecca, Keith, and Bonz.

 

“Alright. Don’t fuck with the beacons. Don’t fuck with your communicator frequencies, I’ve adjusted them to try and match the fluctuations in the area. If communication cuts out or when you’re done over there, press the center of your beacon for five seconds and it’ll signal me to beam you back. You have two hours absolute max before the interference changes enough to make the beacons useless.” Bakura sighed. It would be so much easier if he didn’t actually give a shit. He briefly wished that Yugi actually had been an asshole. “Don’t die and leave me having to fill out a giant report.” Only Ryou laughed at that one.

 

“Come on Bakura, just go. You’re getting mushy in your old age.”

 

“I changed my mind. You can feel free to get eaten by a hungry alien.” Bakura grinned weakly, pushing the sliders carefully into place. The hum of the transporter filled his ears, and the boarding party disappeared into the air.

 

* * *

 

The first thing Ryou felt was cold, even through the protective insulation of his suit. It crept under his skin, into his bones, seeping like moisture through rock. He blinked and the sparkle of the transporter faded from his vision. Yugi shivered too, glancing around the darkened bridge. Only some of the emergency lights were on, and even those looked faded like the air itself was too thick and dark for them to penetrate.

 

“Ok. Two hours.” Yugi visibly straightened. It wasn’t much time, to search the entire ship, so they would have to be smart about it. “Marik Ishtar is a researcher of space anomalies. Since he clearly isn’t on the bridge, he’ll likely be in one of the laboratories, main areas, or his quarters. We’ll go from top to bottom. Stay in visual contact at all times.”

 

“Never split the party,” Ryou murmured, switching on his flashlight. The bridge looked eerily put together. Nothing was out of place, no scattered belongings, nothing indicating violence or illness had overcome the crew. Ryou half expected the turbolift to open and the lights to come on at any moment. It was the same as they explored the hallways, nothing at all out of the ordinary except for the empty silence. Well, empty of people at least. There was something alive about the empty darkness of the hallways, suffocating their light sources, condensing their breath in the air, watching over their shoulders as they searched methodically through the ship. Ryou even thought he felt the tickle of breath over the back of his neck, and he shivered with horror and delight. “It’s a good thing I like horror movies. Anything weird Rebecca?”

 

“It’d be faster to tell you what isn’t weird. This whole area of space is like- I mean it reads kind of like one of those interdimensional rifts you read about in history books, but those were super unstable.” She looked up over the tops of her glasses. “Unless there’s an outside force affecting- well, I don’t know what could do that. Yet. I’m mostly just recording and looking for any big changes.”

 

An hour and a half in and they still hadn’t found anyone, not even a body. Yugi was looking more and more worried every second, but there was nothing to do but keep going. The air grew thicker around them, almost a purple fog in places. The breath on the back of Ryou’s neck turned hot, and a dark chuckle floated into his ears.

 

“Did you guys hear that?”

 

Yugi turned, his eyes full of concern. “Hear what?”

 

“I- nothing. I must’ve been hearing things.” Ryou put on his best sheepish grin till Yugi turned away again.

 

_You aren’t going to find him in time, little bunny._

 

Ryou whipped around, sure he would come face to face with the owner of the voice, but the corridor behind him was devoid of anything but shadows. Narrowing his eyes, he turned back, following the group towards the next lab.

 

_Not that wayyyy-_

 

The voice grew singsong, and Ryou scowled. “Which way then?” he whispered.

 

“What?” Rebecca looked up at Ryou curiously from her scanner.

 

“Nothing.”

 

“Are you sure you’re ok?”

 

_He’s by the escape pods. He thought he could get away, the fool._

 

The voice snickered as though the whole thing were a massive joke that only it's owner was in on.

 

“Yugi, where are the escape pods?”

 

Yugi turned, frowning. “They’re all the way down at the bottom of the ship, I’m not sure we’ll get to them before we have to go back. And Marik wouldn’t try to abandon everyone anyway.”

 

“Speaking of,” Rebecca broke in, her voice creeping up an octave. “The fluctuations are getting more irregular, we should probably-”

 

“Millennium to boarding party, come in!”

 

“Yugi here, what is it?”

 

“I need to get you guys out of there. Seto says he thinks the ship’s density is decreasing.”

 

“He’s right,” Rebecca yelped. “It’s literally starting to phase in and out of existence, we need to _go_.”

 

Ryou jumped as a dark growl sent a chill down his spine.

 

_Go retrieve my body, little bunny, and I’ll give you power beyond your wildest dreams._

 

Ryou almost laughed at the ridiculous offer, but it didn’t matter. His decision had already been made.

 

“Yugi, I know where Marik is.” Yugi whipped around, his eyes wide.

 

“How could you possibly- are you sure?”

 

“Yes.” There must have been something in his face, Ryou supposed, because Yugi took one look at him and nodded. “You three, go back. We have to move fast.” Bonz and Keith were only too happy to activate their beacons, disappearing in a haze of light. Rebecca hesitated, but then the wild laughter began to echo through the halls again, and this time they could all hear it. Her face went white, and Ryou leaned forward, pressing the button that would take her back to the ship. Ryou could see the sweat breaking out on Yugi’s brow, but he never faltered.

 

“Escape pods you said?” Ryou nodded, and they both broke into a run.

 

_Faster!_ The voice hissed in his ear. _The shadows grow hungry!_

 

Groaning, Ryou pushed his scrawny body into a sprint, catching up with Yugi just as he reached the turbolift. The ride down gave them just a moment’s reprieve, and then they were running again.

 

“ _Ryou Bakura if you don’t activate your gods-damned beacon right this second I’m coming over there on a bungee cord!_ ” Bakura yelled through Ryou’s communicator. The near-panic in his voice made Ryou wince.

 

“Here-” panted Yugi, clutching his side as he took a sharp turn into a dark hallway. They could barely see, the fog sucking eagerly at their limbs as they stumbled blindly forward. “Shit, shit, I can’t see a-”

 

Ryou could hear a wild skittering, the sound of a thousand small somethings crawling towards them, or maybe a single something with a few thousand legs. He squinted at the ground through the growing darkness, praying that any moment his feet would find a body. The fog began to engulf him with icy fingers, reaching up his legs, wrapping around his hips.

 

Now it was Atem’s voice crackling through the communicator, but Yugi didn’t bother to answer him.

 

“R-ryou are you s-sure he’s h-here?” Yugi was shaking even harder than Ryou. Ryou could barely move, and he couldn’t see his hands in front of his face.

 

_Here, damn you!_

 

A huge warm hand gripped Ryou’s arm, tugging him forward into what felt like a bath of ice. It spread into him, eating up the heat of his body, faster and faster and then Ryou tripped. He landed face-first on someone’s back. He grabbed their wrist, heart thudding in his chest, and that was when they came for him. He could see, all at once, and very much wished that he couldn’t. A swarm of glittering beetles crept in on him from every side, pausing briefly at the burst of golden light. The face of some horrible red-eyed beast peered at him intently from the darkness, and he could feel it reaching for him, ravenous in its need to snuff him out. The light grew brighter and the great monster hissed angrily, drawing back just a fraction as someone appeared out of the air in front of Ryou. The air shimmered around him like he was on fire, hotter than the sun and twice as bright.

 

“Yugi,” Ryou hissed, not wanting to draw the monster’s attention. “Yugi I’ve got him, go!” There was no answer, but Ryou heard the hum of the transporter far off to his left. The red-eyed monster looked briefly, but didn’t seem to be too interested because it turned back to Ryou and Marik and whoever it was that stood in his way.

 

“Why do you protect them, Kek?” The thing sneered, coming close enough that the purple smog of its breath mingled with the flames coming from the flaming figure's body. “Do you really think you can withstand my power? How pitiful…”

 

_Kek?_ Ryou tugged Marik’s body as close as he could, fumbling with his transporter beacon. The gleeful reptilian face peering out of the dark was horrible and close and… familiar? Just for a moment, Ryou remembered something he’d tried very hard to forget. _Dark purple fog shifted around him with the smell of fire and ash. Akefia’s hand was small and sweaty in Ryou’s. Their colony was a storm of horrible noise, and their parents were- where? Nearby, surely? He knew it wasn’t true, knew they were already gone, but he didn’t say that out loud because then Akefia would cry. There the red eyes had been full of delight and death, and Ryou had pulled his little brother into a half-collapsed house until they had passed._

 

Kek laughed into the red eyes staring him down. “If you think I’m going to get on my knees for some power-mad god just because I have no chance of winning, you can fuck right off! I think I’d rather eat your remains for breakfast!” With a furious roar, the beast dove for him. Ryou finally felt the transporter catch him, and everything began to fade out.

 

“Kek!” Ryou screamed, but they were already gone, and he was stumbling to his knees in the transporter room of the Millennium. Yugi jumped to his feet, swaying a little till Atem caught him. Ishizu was quicker. She ran to Ryou’s side, dropping to her knees and grabbing Marik’s face in her hands. He was beautiful, Ryou noticed absently, even clammy and with bags under his eyes.

 

“He has a pulse,” Ishizu gasped, drooping in relief. “Thank you.” Ryou felt utterly drained, too tired to even blush when Ishizu kissed his forehead, helping lift Marik from his arms onto a hovering stretcher. He could’ve happily sat there, not bothering to move for a good few hours, but Yugi and Bakura tugged him to his feet.

 

“Idiot,” Bakura grumbled, swiping at his reddened eyes. “Of all the times to take the shit I say seriously. C’mon, I’m sure Anzu will want to fuss over the both of you.”

 

* * *

 

Anzu had insisted he spend the night in sickbay under observation, but Ryou wasn’t too inclined to put up a fight. Bakura’s glances had grown more and more obviously worried at his silence. Finally Ryou had blinked, slowly, and focused on Bakura’s face.

 

“I don’t suppose you’d believe me if I said I was fine.” Bakura just snorted. Ryou fidgeted, trying to ignore the soft pulse of the vitals monitor behind him. “Marik wasn’t the only one left on the ship.”

 

“Other survivors?” Bakura frowned. “Why worry about saving everyone if you barely made it back yourself?”

 

“No, not survivors.” Ryou almost laughed. “A ghost. And a demon.”

 

“Did you hit your head? I mean, I guess anything’s possible. That ship in general is one giant ball of who the fuck knows.” Bakura sighed, leaning back in his chair.

 

“Bakura.”

 

“Mmm?”

 

“Anzu’s got me under five different scanners, and I’m not going anywhere. Go take a nap.”

 

“You’re not my mother.”

 

“And you aren’t mine. Go.” Bakura opened a single bleary eye, trying to decide if Ryou was serious. “I’ll use my scary voice, I’m warning you.”

 

“Ok, ok.” Bakura scrambled to his feet. “I don’t know why people think I’m the intimidating one. You could give a Gorn nightmares with that.”

 

Bakura finally left, and Ryou sighed with relief as the doors slid shut behind him. Anzu was in the next room, but for the most part he was finally, blessedly alone. He sat with his chin on his knees, rising only briefly to turn off the light. He stared at the wall of the darkened room, afterimages of red eyes and golden flaming hair echoing across his vision. The flaming figure had looked like Marik, Ryou decided finally. Like Marik but not, sharper and hotter like a blade still raw and half-formed in the heat of a forge. Ryou licked his lips, hesitating.

 

“Kek?” he whispered, hoping that no one would hear. The word felt awkward and harsh on his tongue, and the air quivered as if a silent bell had been struck. But there was no answer, in his head or otherwise, and Ryou felt oddly disappointed. Whoever it was had saved him and Marik both, and was potentially still stuck on that horrible ship with that horrible monster. Finally fatigue began to wash over him in heavier waves, and he curled up on his side under the soft warmth of his blanket.

Ryou knew at once that he was dreaming. He was floating down the empty halls of the Millennium, everything dim and sleepy. He took a quick glance down and found that he had no feet. _Definitely dreaming._ He let the thought slip through his fingers, not wanting to disrupt the flow of the dream itself, and let himself drift. He wandered for a while, finding himself at last under the wide transparent dome of the observation deck. A dark field of stars stretched out before him, above him, under him, twice as bright as he remembered. The dead hulk of the Guardian hung in space, dark and humming with presence. Ryou watched the ship as it faded, stars blooming through it like tiny white flowers. He watched, and felt it watching him back. Ryou reached out, the glass strangely cold against his fingers. He normally didn’t feel so vividly when he dreamt, but again he let the thought flow away without examining it too closely. Something felt off, something he couldn’t pinpoint, until it finally settled into a thought. The stars were going out. Slowly, one by one, they were falling silent, swallowed by the infinite dark from which they were born. The ship was almost gone, and a feeling of urgency welled up in Ryou, almost a panic, but he could tell that the feeling was not his own. Something out there was holding its breath, waiting. Ryou pressed his hand against the glass.

 

“Kek,” he whispered again, not a question this time, and the world around him seemed to sigh. With a sharp gasp, he was awake, lying flat on his back in sickbay. Kek was crouched over him, peering at him warily. He still glowed softly, but was so sharp and solid that Ryou half expected to feel the heat of his body. They stared at each other curiously, neither one daring to move. Then Kek’s mouth slid sideways in a jagged slice of a grin.

 

_I owe you twice now, little bunny. How would you like me to pay?_

 

The rich melody of his voice made it sound like an innuendo, and Ryou’s heart almost jumped out of his chest. The vitals monitor shrieked in alarm, and Anzu appeared at the door almost instantly. Ryou sat up, his pulse hammering, with Kek nowhere to be seen.

 

“Ryou? Are you ok?”

 

Ryou had to swallow heavily a few times before he could answer. “I had a nightmare.”

 

“I’m not surprised. Yugi said it was pretty hellish over there.”

 

“How is he?” Not likely to fall back asleep, Ryou pulled on his slippers and padded out of the room to join Anzu at her desk.

 

“Not bad. He’s a bit like you, I probably won’t know if there are any lasting effects till he has a breakdown in a few days and admits he doesn’t feel well.” Ryou laughed softly at the jibe.

 

“You know us all too well Anzu.”

 

“It’s part of my job. I’m not just here to take care of your bodies.”

“You’re too good for us, you know.”

 

“Don’t be silly. On a ship that gets into as much trouble as this one, they’d be crazy not to assign a chief medical officer that’s worth her salt.” She ruffled his hair fondly, avoiding Ryou’s half-hearted swat. “You can go back to your quarters if you’re feeling up to it. I’m going to go check on Marik.”

 

“He hasn’t woken up yet?”

 

“Not a peep.” Anzu frowned. “That’s the strange thing. I’ve run scans to try and figure out why he’s unconscious, and by all appearances he should just wake right up. I feel awful for Ishizu, the waiting must be killing her. And Rishid too, although he’d never show it.”

 

Ryou nodded, the very edges of a headache starting to gnaw at him.

 

“I’ll be back to help once I’ve rested a little more. I’m not sure what I could do that you haven’t, but two heads are better than one.”

 

“You don’t give yourself enough credit,” Anzu yawned. “Come back if you notice anything out of the ordinary.”

 

Ryou nodded, and left gratefully for the sanctuary of his own bed.

 

* * *

 

Bakura lay stiff under his sheets, wide awake. Something was wrong. He could feel it in his bones, like a faint echo of memory. The wreck of the Guardian tugged on his gut, beckoning with withered talons. He felt hungry and tired and desperately sad, and he hated it. It reminded him of home, far too vividly, almost like- Bakura sat bolt upright in bed, the blood draining from his face. _Screw Yugi’s trust._ He leapt up, grabbed the battered tablet from under his desk, and brought up the footage from the ready room. He watched Yugi, Atem, Ishizu, and Rishid enter. Yugi began to speak, and within thirty seconds Bakura had dropped heavily into his chair.

 

_“Yes, we’ve found the Guardian, but-” Yugi hesitated. “There’s a problem. How much do you know about your brother’s research?”_

 

_“Very little.” Rishid laid a comforting hand on Ishizu’s shoulder._

 

_Yugi sighed. “Rifts. Specific ones, that we think lead to another dimension that runs parallel to ours. Nothing good happens when these things pop up. The only reason we know anything about them at all is from, uh. Survivors.” Ishizu stiffened._

 

_“Is my brother alive or not?”_

 

_“We don’t know, but we’ve been assigned to go find out.”_

 

_For a moment there was silence._

 

_“What should we be prepared for?” That was Atem, as serious as Bakura had ever heard him._

 

_Yugi looked down at his hands. “It’s never quite the same. There have been people who thought they were possessed by evil spirits or ancient kings, people on missions from imaginary deities, people who could summon strange creatures out of stone, all very destructive. When it happens on a colony, there isn’t usually much left. We’ve even found signs of a much bigger entity- one that only appears if there’s too much resistance. It’s started taking ships, which we thought had happened to the Guardian until it popped up on a routine long-range scan.”_

 

There was more, but Bakura didn’t hear it. He was back on his homeworld, _toes buried in sand, blood dripping from his nose, and Ryou looking around them in horror. A ship had answered their distress call, a ship with weapons and a transporter and the means to help save them from whatever was tearing their colony apart, and they were doing nothing. The USS Aaru was sitting up there and watching them burn._ Bakura shook himself, nails digging into his palms, waves of fire and ice sweeping over his skin. He gasped for breath, trying to keep it slow and focus on his surroundings like Ryou had taught him. Whatever evil he had felt on his homeworld, whatever had destroyed his parents and his life, it was here. He could feel it even more strongly now, peering at him through the solid walls of the Millennium, daring him... Not even bothering to put on his shoes, he bolted from the room.

 

* * *

 

The more Ryou tried to sleep, the less tired he felt. He tossed and turned till he was sweaty and uncomfortable, and then finally gave in and headed to the observation deck. It looked strangely muted compared to the scene in his dream. The Guardian was almost completely gone, just traces of it flickering between clusters of stars.

 

“Why won’t he wake up?” Ryou wasn’t startled this time when Kek’s voice floated out of the darkness.

 

_He doesn’t want to. He thinks he failed._

 

“Failed at what?” Kek was visible suddenly, lounging against the glass, looking out at the remains the the ship with hard eyes.

 

_He’s been searching so long, trying to find the thing that killed our father. Our dearest siblings always thought he was crazy. And now he finally finds the thing, loses his whole crew, almost dies himself, and still doesn’t have a shred of proof._

 

“How do you know all this?”

 

Kek hesitated. _I’m not sure. I think I’m him. Or his mirror image. All the Dark One told me was that I had to kill him. I haven’t been alive very long but I don’t think I’m the kind of spirit that likes taking orders._ A huge grin spread his lips, and this time Ryou couldn’t help but smile back.

 

“He does have proof. He has you. I bet we could wake him up somehow.” Kek’s fierce face went oddly thoughtful.

 

_And you'd like me to help? I guess taking an order or two from you wouldn't be so bad. I do owe you._

 

Ryou laughed, his cheeks getting a little hot, but the moment was shattered as Bakura dashed into the room, slamming his hands into the glass and sliding to the floor in a heap.

 

“I was too late,” he hissed, his cheeks glistening strangely in the starlight. “It’s too far gone for me to even get a transporter lock. Ryou, that was it. I heard Yugi telling the Ishtars about it, I felt it calling to me, it’s the same thing that destroyed our colony, _I know it is. Damn it!_ ” Tears sprung to Ryou’s eyes, and he dropped to his knees beside Bakura.

 

“I know. I felt it too. I’m sorry.” He wrapped his arms around Bakura, burying his face in Bakura’s hair. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

 

“What if that was our only chance?”

 

Kek snorted, and Bakura and Ryou both jumped.

 

_Don’t be a fool. What would you’ve done? Punch the Dark One in the face? You wouldn’t have even been a whole mouthful._

 

“Who the fuck is this?” Bakura snarled, jumping to his feet and whipping out his decidedly non-regulation pocket knife in one smooth motion.

 

“This is Kek. He saved my life back on the Guardian. Kek, this is my brother Bakura.” Ryou wiped at his eyes a little. “Don’t try to stab him, he’s a ghost.”

 

Bakura squinted. “Huh. A ghost and a demon.”

 

_I am not a ghost. Ghosts are dead things that were alive._

 

“Duly noted,” Ryou said, his lips twitching as he tried not to smile.

 

_Also, if you think the Dark One is going to leave us all alone now that we’ve given him the finger, you’re even more of a fool than you look._

 

“Good. Next time we can be ready for the fucker.” Kek rolled his eyes, choosing not to answer.

 

“Come on, let’s go wake up Marik. I’m sure Ishizu’s worried sick.” Ryou supposed it should’ve bothered him more, walking through the ship with a ghost- or whatever- in tow, but somehow Kek didn't feel like a threat, in spite of his looks.

 

Anzu looked up in surprise from her notes as Ryou and Bakura walked into sickbay.

 

“Are you two ok?”

 

“We need to see Marik.”

 

Anzu tilted her head, searching, and then nodded. “He’s in there.”

 

Ryou and Bakura stood on either side of Marik, looking down at his sleeping face. Now that it came down to it, Ryou wasn’t actually sure what they were doing.

 

“Kek? How do we um. Do you know how to do it?”

 

Kek sat cross-legged in midair, staring at his other self.

 

_Hey. Marik. Wake up!_ There was no change.

 

“Seriously, that’s your genius plan?” Bakura gaped.

 

_Yeah unless you have any better ideas. Marik! Wake up you asshole!_ There was a blip on the monitor as Marik stirred in his sleep. Kek frowned. _Your ey_ _eliner is smudged!_ He tried again.

 

“You realize you’ve got that shit on too?” Bakura snapped as Ryou choked behind his fist.

 

“Ok ok um… Hey Marik, you don’t know us, but we believe you?” Ryou tried. Marik stirred a little more, but went still again.

 

_Hey bunny’s brother. What would wake you up? You seem like a similar kind of crazy._

 

“I have a _name,_ ” Bakura grit out. “And I’d wake up to take a swing at that evil whatever you called him.”

 

Kek’s eyes lit up. _Ok, now I see why bunny keeps you around._ He floated down till his lips were less than an inch from Marik’s ear. Ryou stared in surprise as Marik’s hair fluttered under Kek’s breath. _Marik,_ Kek whispered, smooth as silk. _I can help you get revenge._

 

Marik’s groan seemed to travel all the way up his body from the tips of his toes, a sound of such pure and weary frustration that Bakura’s chest began to ache uncomfortably. Finally the sound broke free of Marik’s mouth, and his eyes fluttered open. He tensed and relaxed again so quickly that Bakura wasn’t sure any of the others caught it, hands twitching for some kind of weapon.

 

“Where am I?” Marik groaned, his eyes falling shut.

 

“You’re on the USS Millennium, and you’re safe for the moment.”

 

Marik’s eyes flew open again, and he actually sat up and tried to swing his legs off the side of the bed. “Millennium? Do you know Ishizu Ishtar?”

 

“What in the galaxy- Ryou, what happened?” Anzu swept over, tucking Marik firmly back under his blanket. “Yes, your sister is here. Go call her, would you?”

 

The relief in Ishizu’s voice almost knocked Ryou over, even through the intercom. He leaned back against the comforting metal hull, smiling up at Kek’s transparent form.

 

“Thank you.”

 

_You got Marik’s body to safety. I owed you a favor. Besides,_ Kek grinned, _y_ _ou’re going to help me chop up the Dark One into tiny pieces._

 

“So why do _you_ hate him?” Bakura asked.

 

_He tried to tell me what to do._

 

“You know, I almost believe you,” Bakura snorted.

 

Ishizu, Rishid, and Yugi came hurrying down the hall.

 

“Come on,” Ryou murmured awkwardly, having no desire to stick around for the family reunion. “I’ll show you the Millennium.” Kek nodded, face growing curious again, and floated along after Ryou.

 

Bakura stared after them, trying to figure out what on earth was happening.

 

“A ghost. A ghost and a demon. You’ve got to be kidding me,” he grumbled, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands. “And some vengeful idiot studying impossible rifts in space. I didn’t sign up for this.”

 

“You never know what you’re signing up for when you join Starfleet.”

 

Bakura jumped guiltily.

 

“I mean- I didn’t-”

 

“You’re really going to have to show me how you get all this information you aren’t supposed to have.” Yugi was smiling cheerfully, apparently unbothered by the idea that Bakura knew things that were none of his business.

 

“An engineer never reveals his secrets.” Bakura answered, scowling.

 

There were bags under Yugi’s eyes, he noticed, and they seemed to darken as he looked at Marik and Ishizu’s tearful reunion taking place through the open door of sickbay.

 

“This isn’t the end of it.” The moment didn’t last, however, and Yugi straightened his back, turning to face Bakura. “I have a feeling we were all brought together for a reason.”

 

“Yeah, cause whoever does assignments for this sector has has a shitty sense of humor.”

 

“I wouldn’t know." Yugi answered, trying to stifle a laugh. "Does an engineer ever eat? We should give the Ishtars some privacy." Not waiting for Bakura to answer, he turned and headed for the mess hall. Bakura realized with annoyance that not only was he hungry, but he didn't actually hate the idea of eating at the same table as a member of the Sennen family. Well, one of them, anyway. Stomach grumbling, he took one last glance through the door of sick bay and hurried off towards his dinner.


End file.
